In yesterday’s speech during a special meeting of City Council, Emanuel apologized for the shooting and the city’s handling of it, while maintaining his claim that he did not block the release of the dashcam video to bolster his chances of winning reelection last spring. “And if we’re going to fix it, I want you to understand it’s my responsibility with you”.
Advertisement
There have been regular calls for Emanuel’s resignation since officials released footage showing a white police officer fatally shooting a black teenager in 2014. Emanuel has been under fire for a police brutality scandal that has rocked his administration, and Chicago Democratic Representative LaShawn Ford says he wants to amend state law to pave the way for voters to recall the Chicago Mayor.
The “die-in” lasted 16 minutes, one minute for each time 17-year-old McDonald was shot by a Chicago police officer last year. There’s speculation that Emanuel’s recent reelection bid played a role in the decision not to release the video.
Axelrod said Emanuel worked on the speech all weekend, with input from him and others.
“I’m just really exhausted of turning on the news and seeing another innocent victim shot”, said Espindola.
On Monday, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced an investigation into the “patterns and practices” of the Chicago Police Department. “This is not a racial issue, it’s a democracy issue”, she said Thursday.
“All of the evidence points to the fact that Mr. Johnson did indeed have a gun that evening”, she said, including statements from an acquaintance who heard what sounded like a gun being cocked by Johnson and a cartridge case matching the ammunition in Johnson’s gun discovered in the auto he was riding in with friends that night. A Guardian investigation exposed in February that Chicago police have the equivalent of a domestic black site where they allegedly torture detainees who they often hold illegally and keep from legal counsel. The video of that police shooting was released two weeks ago, prompting protests across the city and, ultimately, the firing of Garry McCarthy as Chicago police superintendent.
In all, Lorenzo, himself a former Chicago police officer, was told six times to change his findings in favor of officers, according to Hamilton.
Some protesters have called for his resignation.
An Illinois State Lawmaker is proposing legislation that would allow Chicagoans to recall Mayor Rahm Emanuel. And it’s increasingly hard to envision a scenario in which whatever Emanuel does isn’t viewed as a political Hail Mary to save his career by understandably frustrated and suspicious Chicago residents. That includes the Independent Police Review Authority, which examined 409 cases of police-involved shootings in the eight years ending September 30 – and found just two unjustified.
Advertisement
“I really didn’t think I’d have anything to do with this”, Rachel Brown, an 18-year-old film student, told the Daily News Thursday.
